MLL News and Notes: June 29

Boltus scored nine goals to lead the Nationals to a weekend sweep of Rochester. In the Nationals’ 19-16 victory over Rochester on Friday night, he tied a Hamilton single-game record by scoring seven goals, including four goals in the first half. He added a pair of goals in the Nationals’ 15-14 overtime victory on Saturday night, marking Hamilton’s third win over Rochester this season. Boltus, who earned Cascade MLL Rookie of the Week honors on May 23, leads all MLL rookies with 11 goals and 16 points.

Defensive Player of the Week
Kyle Sweeney, Boston Cannons

Sweeney led the Cannons to their fourth straight win, a 17-10 victory over the defending MLL champion Chesapeake Bayhawks on Saturday night. He scored a goal with an assist and held Chesapeake attackman Danny Glading to just one assist. With 34 seconds left in the second quarter, he trimmed the Cannons’ deficit to 7-6 with an unassisted goal. He also had an assist in the second half as the Cannons outscored the Bayhawks by 11-3 after the intermission.

Cascade Rookie of the Week
Grant Catalino, Rochester Rattlers

In just his second career game, Catalino had a record-setting performance in the Rattlers’ 19-16 loss against Hamilton on Friday night. Catalino tied the MLL single-game record by scoring nine goals, including a two-point marker, and became the first player in five years to score nine goals in a game. He scored six of his goals in the first half as the Rattlers built an 11-8 lead.

MLL News and Notes

STAR GAZING: The 40-player roster pool for the 2011 Sports Authority MLL All-Star Game was announced on Monday afternoon. The teams will be picked on Friday, July 8 at Harvard Stadium by Nathan Solomon and Michael Hatala, who earned the honor of honorary captains by winning the MLL Ultimate Fan Fantasy Contest. The MLL All-Star Game will be played on July 9 at 7 p.m. at Harvard Stadium and will be broadcast live on ESPN2. The roster pool is listed at the bottom of page 2 of this week’s release.

SUMMIT MEETING: Sunday’s game between the Boston Cannons and Denver Outlaws will feature the top two teams in the MLL standings this year. Both teams enter the game with a 5-1 record after earning wins last weekend; the Cannons defeated Chesapeake by a 17-10 margin while Denver posted an 18-11 victory at home against Long Island.

CONNECT FOUR: Since dropping a 13-12 decision against the Outlaws on May 21, the Cannons have won their last four games to move into a tie for first place in the MLL standings with Denver. The Cannons have averaged 17.25 points per game, including a season-high 19 points in their June 11 victory over Long Island at Harvard Stadium.

NINE LIVES: Rochester Rattlers attackman Grant Catalino became the first MLL player in five years to score nine goals in a game when he accomplished the feat against Hamilton last Friday night at Sahlen’s Stadium, tying the MLL single-game record. He also became the second player to tally 10 points in a game this year as he scored a two-point goal in the 19-16 loss.

CHANGE AT THE TOP: The Rochester Rattlers relieved Head Coach B.J. O’Hara of his duties on Tuesday evening and announced that former Rattler midfielder Tim Soudan will serve as the team’s coach for the remainder of the season. O’Hara coached the Rattlers from 2004-08 before serving as the head coach of the Chicago Machine in 2009 and 2010. He led the Rattlers to the 2008 MLL title. Soudan played three years for the Rattlers and scored 35 goals in 31 career games.

CENTURY MARK: Denver Outlaws attackman Drew Westervelt tallied the 100th goal of his MLL career in the third quarter of the Outlaws’ 18-11 victory over Long Island on Saturday night. Westervelt, who has 100 career goals in 50 games, tallied the milestone goal just 10 seconds into the second half on a power-play marker off a feed from attackman Brendan Mundorf.

HELP FROM AN UNEXPECTED SOURCE: Of the 17 goals scored by the Boston Cannons in their win over the Bayhawks on Saturday night, four of them were scored by either long stick midfielders or defensemen. PT Ricci scored a career-high two goals with an assist while defenseman Kyle Sweeney had a goal with an assist. Meanwhile, rookie defenseman Brian Farrell scored the first goal of his MLL career and had an assist in his MLL debut.

HIGH FIVE: After scoring just six goals in his first four career games, Denver Outlaws attackman Connor Martin exploded for a career-high five goals in their 18-11 victory over Long Island on Saturday night. He has recorded a “hat trick” in three of his five career games, scoring three goals against Boston on May 27 this year along with three goals against Chicago last year.

DOUBLE TROUBLE: After his six-point effort against Long Island on Saturday night, Denver Outlaws attackman Brendan Mundorf leads the MLL with 18 goals and 29 points. He is one of five players in the MLL with at least 20 points this season. In addition, Mundorf is tied for second in the MLL with 11 assists.

NOTHING GETS BY BURKE: In addition to leading the MLL in scoring offense through the first half of the 2011 season, the Boston Cannons can also boast one of the league’s top goalkeepers as Jordan Burke leads the MLL with a .617 save percentage. Burke made 14 saves in the Cannons’ victory over Chesapeake on Saturday night. In the last three games, Burke has posted a .651 save percentage while allowing 9.67 goals per game.

MAY THE SCHWARTZ[MAN] BE WITH YOU: Denver Outlaws goalkeeper Jesse Schwartzman has continued his stellar play this season and leads the MLL with a 9.57 goals against average. In addition, he ranks second in the MLL with a .589 save percentage. He has held opponents to under 10 goals in five of his six outings, including just nine goals in 58 minutes against Long Island on Saturday night.

30 SOMETHING: The Outlaws and the Cannons enter their match-up on Sunday night as two of the top shooting teams in Major League Lacrosse this season. Denver leads the league with a .333 shooting percentage while Boston ranks second by scoring on 31.1 per cent of its shots. Hamilton ranks third in the MLL with a .307 shot percentage.

FIRST THINGS FIRST: Through the first 18 games this season, the team that scores the game’s first goal has a 13-5 record. In three of the four games last week, the team that scored first went on to earn the victory.